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A Brand New Character Will Appear In The Aladdin Remake & Fans Are NOT Happy

Photo: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock.
Disney's live-action remake of the cartoon Aladdin has already been mired in controversy for its casting decisions. Naomi Scott, who will play Jasmine in the movie, is Indian and British, not Middle Eastern, which didn't sit well with fans. (Mena Massoud, who's playing Aladdin, is of Egyptian heritage.)
But it looks like Disney fans have a new reason to be unhappy with the remake. The studio is adding a brand-new character to the movie — and he's white.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed Tuesday that Billy Magnussen will be in the new Aladdin film as "an original character not seen in the 1992 animated pic." Magnussen recently appeared in Ingrid Goes West, as well as Netflix's Friends From College and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
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According to THR, Magnussen's character is named "Prince Anders." If he's a prince, it sounds like he might be competing with Aladdin for Jasmine's affections, though the studio hasn't revealed any details about his role.
Fans are understandably upset that Disney is adding a new character into the mix, and that the new character is white. (Disney also added Nasim Pedrad as new character Mara, a friend of Jasmine's, but fans seem ok with that decision.) Plenty of people tweeted their dissatisfaction with director Guy Ritchie's choice to cast Magnussen.
As THR notes, playing a Disney prince is a natural fit for Magnussen — he also played Rapunzel's prince in Into the Woods. But did Aladdin really need another Disney prince?
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